Camera Shutter Speed?

Question

What is a good shutter speed for a camera if, i dont want like an expensive one.. probably like 400 will be my highest.. but i seen some with shutter speed of 1/2000 sec.. are those good for shooting lightning or does it need to be faster?

Answer 1

Depends on what you want to shoot. Normally, you don't need to shoot much above 1/400 of a second which would be fast sporting type images. You may need to shoot faster if you have very bright lighting conditions. 1/1000 of a second and faster are good for fun things like stopping helicopter rotors.

The camera you are looking at is a perfectly fine camera. For normal shooting conditions, it has what you need.

If you want to shoot lightning, you do just the opposite. You want a very slow shutter speed, like the bulb position (shutter stays open for as long as the shutter release button is pressed) or something like 30 seconds.. You open the shutter and close it after the lightning stroke has occurred. If you're using a slow shutter speed (not the bulb position), use a dark card to cover the lens after the lightning stroke until the shutter closes. I have found that it is best to use f/11 at an ISO of 100 for lightning (f/8 at iso of 64 also works).